About The VBAC HUB & April
We are told our bodies are the problem.
We are conditioned to believe that once a birth has taken a certain path, our bodies are somehow written off. Told we are a collection of risk factors, a statistic to be managed, with our instincts treated as secondary to hospital policy.
It takes some serious unpicking to move past the risk labels and find your power again. To realise that you are the most important person in the room, and that your autonomy is not a nice to have, it is your right.
Working that out while navigating a system that is often stretched thin and risk averse is incredibly hard to do alone.
That is exactly why I am here. Bridging that gap for VBAC is my obsession.
The journey to The VBAC Hub
My path into this work started in 2014 as a doula and antenatal teacher. My real why is woven through my own life as a mother of three.
My journey has not been a straight line. It has been varied, raw, and at times heavy, including the grief of miscarriage and the complex reality of abortion.
I am fiercely pro-choice, because being the authority over your own body is the foundation of everything.
After my first two births ended in caesareans, I felt that 2am isolation. I was the one Googling for answers that did not leave me feeling like a statistic to be managed. I had to work incredibly hard to find the research, unlearn the fear, and learn how to trust my instincts again.
In 2016, I had my vaginal birth after two previous caesareans. A water birth in my local hospital with no interventions.
It was not luck. It was the result of knowing my rights, finding the right support, and opting out of consultant led care.
I started The VBAC Hub because I want that same “I did this” feeling to be accessible to everyone, not just the few with the time, energy, or ability to hunt down and hyperfocus on the stats.
A note on every kind of birth
The “I did it” feeling absolutely happens with repeat caesareans too. Everything I am building here under The VBAC Hub is to fully prepare you for how your birth can unfold, whatever form that takes.
I am committed to talking about the difficult topics.
Uterine rupture
NICU
Navigating repeat caesareans
Birth trauma
The bits that most courses skip over or soften beyond recognition.
Your preparation has to include all of it, because your birth might include all of it.
Behind the scenes…
On a personal level, I am a late diagnosed autistic and ADHDer.
What that means for you is that I am a bit of a research nerd. If there is a statistic or a piece of evidence out there, I have probably found it, hyperfocused on it, and worked out exactly how it helps you.
I am a bit socially awkward in person, definitely cooler online.
But I am a firm believer in finding your people.
When I am not deep in birth rights research, you will find me gaming, getting outside to find the perfect big stick with my kids, or staring at the moon.
What I stand for
I will always tell you the uncomfortable truth.
I will never tell you to just manifest a birth outcome.
I believe birth is powerful, that you are the authority over your own body, and that the system we are giving birth in is long overdue a shake up.
I am nerdy, honest and fully in your corner.
READY TO DIG IN?
If you are planning a VBAC, The VBAC Birth Prep Course is where you start.
If you are a birth worker who wants to properly support VBAC families, The VBAC Birth Worker Course is here for you.
Wherever you are in your journey, you have found your place.
